Well with how bad Gibson USA's quality control has been recently, I think I'll probably only go for it if I can talk him down to around $150. I mean, even with some factory defects, a mahogany/baked maple guitar with a set neck and a gibson usa humbucker is hard to pass up at the sub $200 range.

I'll probably just end up waiting for a decent tele to come within my price range, though. Must have patience.

So I'm scoping out craigslist to see if a Classic Vibe tele has come up for sale recently, and I found a couple, but they're asking too much for them considering what they sell for new.

But I did find a black Gibson Melody Maker SG - a single piece mahogany set neck into a maple body, with a single 491T humbucker in the bridge position, wraparound tailpiece, and the lone volume knob. I think these had a limited run. The guy's asking $200 for it, they seem to retail for $300-$400, so would it be worth it to make the guy an offer?

By 'would it be worth it', I'm asking if anyone who has any experience with this guitar could tell me whether it'll be a waste of time or if it's actually a decent guitar.

The one I tried was better than some of the Standards on the rack, but as with all Gibsons, it's notoriously case by case. Go and check it out, negotiate him down if it's flawed but not a dealbreaker

I love my Guitar Center, we don't end up with bad guitars. Every guitar in the store gets checked out by the tech there and if there are any flaws it gets sent back. I know the major guitar stores say they do that but most of them don't.

The reason he raised is because I was trying to pull a Pawn Stars and I was all like "look, I'll go $150 on it, that's what I can do, and that's including delivery" and he said he'd need more to cover the gas to deliver it, so I emailed him back and was like fuck that nonsense so now we're back to $200, delivered.

Pulled the trigger on the 2011 Melody Maker SG. I really like the guitar, it has a surprising amount of tonal variation considering it has only a bridge humbucker and a volume knob. With the volume up all the way, it gets really bright and shimmery, it's actually approaching the Telecaster territory that I was originally considering for a new guitar, it's just much louder. Rolling the volume knob down and adjusting strumming position gives a darker, neck type sound, even without having the option to switch to a neck pickup. And the body resonates very well.

I was considering adding a switch to split the coils of the pickup, offering me bright single coil tones, then I can turn this thing into a real powerhouse.

The finish is great, I think, nice and consistent across the whole guitar. It's a really thin matte black, it's so thin you can see the grain of the wood through it, which I actually like, it makes it look more like a real piece of wood that some person made and cared for, as opposed to some of my other guitars which feel like they're covered in an inch of glossy plastic. The grain doesn't show up in pictures though, it looks straight black in pics. Maybe the white one is more transparent. The grain on the fingerboard is beautiful.

Onto the negatives, then. Well, to be honest, I don't really have any right off hand, maybe I'll come up with some later. Right now it's pure satisfaction. Being that the body is made of maple instead of mahogany, it's probably the brightest sounding SG on the planet, I mean it gets twangy, but that's because it's only an SG in shape. In reality, it shouldn't be compared to any SG, it's a true component of the Melody Maker line, sounds just like the others, it just happens to be cut in the SG shape.

It's only two days here in scotland and I miss playing my electric. I'm stuck with a shitty blue emg strat (two singles and one HB in the bridge). Can't stay in tune since it has a floating bridge. I do have a moderately good acoustic that I can fuck on.. but it's not the same. I'm here for a week and a half. This is going to be hell.

The finish is great, I think, nice and consistent across the whole guitar. It's a really thin matte black, it's so thin you can see the grain of the wood through it, which I actually like, it makes it look more like a real piece of wood that some person made and cared for, as opposed to some of my other guitars which feel like they're covered in an inch of glossy plastic. The grain doesn't show up in pictures though, it looks straight black in pics. Maybe the white one is more transparent. The grain on the fingerboard is beautiful.

This is why Strats feel like toys to me. The glossy, smooth finish and the flat paint feel like plastic, even on old models. Then the roundness of the top horn and stuff just makes it even more toylike.

There's a possibility on my new college course that we might get an allowance so that we can go and get guitar/music lessons outside of class (the tutor from the last year of college won't be able to work with the new course as well, if he wants to keep his other job anyway).

If so, I'm gonna get my ass some guitar lessons, hopefully from the same tutor as one of the guitarists in my band goes to. He's fucking awesome.

This is why Strats feel like toys to me. The glossy, smooth finish and the flat paint feel like plastic, even on old models. Then the roundness of the top horn and stuff just makes it even more toylike.

Edited:

If I could see the grain, it would be much better.

I noticed this on my explorer, the guitar is shiny but it is not a perfect glass finish. Looks so much better to me.

I'm thinking long and hard about a Damien Elite Avenger FR, but I've never played anything with a Floyd, just regular tailpieces. I'm trying to find something with a Floyd to borrow to see if I can deal with it.

How different is playing the same music, only with a full-floating Floyd?

Well string bending can be a little more difficult because the bridge will be fighting the extra tension meaning it will go forward a bit and make it so you have to bend a little further. Not a problem with practice, just an annoyance. The bigger problem is if you are trying to bend a string to the note of another string, that note that you aren't bending is gonna lower in pitch from the tension caused by the other string.

Once again with enough practice you can overcome that, but in all honesty some people get a floyd to replace string bending.

I am keeping myself away from tremolos right now, my Ibanez tremolo is blocked and my explorer is a TOM bridge. But like you said you have to find out for yourself if you can deal with it, if you don't do a lot of string bending than I can't see it being a huge change for you.

This is why Strats feel like toys to me. The glossy, smooth finish and the flat paint feel like plastic, even on old models. Then the roundness of the top horn and stuff just makes it even more toylike.

Edited:

If I could see the grain, it would be much better.

Yeah, I really prefer this now. I feel like it's going to wear away awesomely, too, in a few years it could start looking like one of those relic'd models.

My camera sucks, but this is decent enough for you to see it. There's a little white ash on the pickup here, which I didn't see till after I took the pic, it bugs me. It's like the arrow in the Fed Ex logo, once you see it, that's all you'll ever see.

The angle to the headstock is intense. When you're eye level with the fretboard, it looks like it's not even there. People who don't play don't seem to notice a difference, but it catches my eye every time I look at the guitar, and I love that about it.

And my favorite part is this fingerboard. It looks so delicious, especially to be made of baked maple.

Well string bending can be a little more difficult because the bridge will be fighting the extra tension meaning it will go forward a bit and make it so you have to bend a little further. Not a problem with practice, just an annoyance. The bigger problem is if you are trying to bend a string to the note of another string, that note that you aren't bending is gonna lower in pitch from the tension caused by the other string.

Once again with enough practice you can overcome that, but in all honesty some people get a floyd to replace string bending.

I am keeping myself away from tremolos right now, my Ibanez tremolo is blocked and my explorer is a TOM bridge. But like you said you have to find out for yourself if you can deal with it, if you don't do a lot of string bending than I can't see it being a huge change for you.

I do a lot of single string bends, I learned how without the aid of a trem. Some of the stuff I'm playing now is supposed to have a lot of dive bombs and other trem acrobatics that I can't replicate with bends.

Worst case scenario I could just block the Floyd to not move at all, right?

One to add to my Melody Maker and one for every other knob I have. I'd always wondered what they were when I've played nice vintage guitars that come with them, because I noticed they're so functional and helpful. It'd be especially helpful on this melody maker where seemingly insignificant turns of the knob can change the sound pretty drastically.

yeah I use the same on my graveyard disciple it is awesome ( if you use the set allen screws instead of the button like screws) only problem I found is that it kills flutter, but appart from that, it does its job perfectly when tightened hard enough

I know this isn't the best place to talk about it (it's got a neck, strings, it makes sound) but I'm considering buying a 1981 Gold Star banjo for around 1,220 dollars. I played it at the guitar shop and it's a fucking beast.

Playing with a band is a lot different than playing by yourself with a backing track or by yourself in general. You know what's happening in the backing track or if you're playing by yourself. I finally got a system down of getting my bassist to follow me if we go nuts on stage. I'll make a face and he'll find the root where I'm playing and start going there.

well I imagine it'd be hard to get anyone to do anything just by making a face at them let alone someone as dumb as a bassist

there was a bassist before who tried out for the spot, he couldn't keep time by himself. the entire 3 hours after i learned he couldn't, we tried to teach him the timing for 12/8 and it didn't work. i got so pissed because he said he could..

there was a bassist before who tried out for the spot, he couldn't keep time by himself. the entire 3 hours after i learned he couldn't, we tried to teach him the timing for 12/8 and it didn't work. i got so pissed because he said he could..

well that was literally the only bassist who was shitty. the other ones were douchbag personalities. he was the 2011 all-state orch bass player and i was bros with him, he said he could play blues. but now i know that's a lie